Six
by wickerworks
Summary: Six people fight for their survival during a zombie outbreak. This story is set in the Philippines. I hope you'll like it.
1. Chapter 1

***Hello, this story was and still is written for my friends so some scenes and conversations might not be fully understandable by other people although these are relatively rare. The setting is in the Philippines, where I'm from, and as far as I know I've managed to follow the zombie concepts set in Walking Dead. Posting for the benefit of my friends, but I do hope other people will like it as well.***

DISCLAIMER: I've spell-checked but not proofread this and succeeding chapters so I apologize in advance for some error. I'm busy with my college life. :P I'll be more meticulous about it when there's more readers than just my close friends. :D Anyway, here you go!

Chapter 1:

Open windows blew wisps of air into an otherwise breathless corner of the hallway. The soft buzzing of wasps and bees echoed beneath untouched plastic chairs—chairs which in themselves felt foreign in a world filled with the humdrum roar of chattering students and keyboards. All around, only the occasional tone of a computer booting up or the haunting music from an external hard drive being disconnected broke the monotony.

From the confines of a silent corner of the third floor of the University of the Philippines' Department of Computer Science, Ric started playing a soft acoustic melody on his guitar. Charlie joined in and slowly the pace began to quicken. Two pairs of hands plucked and strummed as they played fervently, as if possessed by an unseen spirit. On one side, Ric's fingers formed wave after wave of fluid motion matched by graceful music and on the other Charlie's fingers moved like embers bursting into flame, crackling and swaying as further inspiration came. Here then entered the wind from Robert's humming even as he played upon the desks and chairs like drums, setting up an earthen harmony for Mayca to sing along with.

Silent in his seat across the group, the view outside had distracted Wesley from being entranced as the others were. He sat still, gazing outside the open window. There was something that struck him as peculiar from the nearly constructed building next door. A man dressed in what was unmistakably a construction worker's uniform, walked lazily around an unfinished storey. It was strange not because he was there when no one else seemed to be, but because his gait seemed uncannily familiar to Wesley. Yet, it annoyed him that he could not find the proper word to describe it. Years spent reading and writing literary pieces and he could not find the right word to describe a man's gait? It was frustrating.

"Wes, you okay? You seem a bit lost there." said Robert. Ric and Charlie played on but Robert looked at Wesley more with curiosity than worry. Wesley seemed not to hear as he remained intent on watching the man. He searched his mind for the elusive word that grated on his nerves and watched on as the man continued walking aimlessly around the vacant floor. His head was bowed down as if depressed, miserable... but it still wasn't quite that. He appeared about as mindless as he was lifeless, almost like a—

It was then that it struck him. The man shambled, like a zombie in one of George Romero's Blank of the Living Dead movies. A sudden shiver went up through Wesley's spine. It was never the fact that he has watched so many horror movies that made him scared of them. Neither was it the gigabytes of zombie graphic novels and games. It wasn't that simple of a fear. It was the lucid dreams; the dreams that felt so real and looked so real that there have been countless times that he had found himself cornered by a zombie horde and unable to wake up.

"Wes, what's up? What are you lookin' at out there? Dude, if there's a really beautiful girl out there right now taking her clothes off for some reason, you better say something quick." said Ric who had stopped playing his guitar. Wesley looked at his friends long enough to see Robert facepalm, Charlie chuckle and Mayca throw Charlie a look that made him shrink in his seat.

"It's nothing. There's just this weird man in that other building. He's been walking aimlessly around the fourth floor for a while now. Not that it matters anyway, I guess I'm just wondering if he's ever going to come around to falling off the side of that building. That'd be a sight, won't it?" Wesley spoke with his usual cheer of morbid humour but he fidgeted in his seat, unnerved by an odd feeling that he was being watched.

!

A gut wrenching wail pierced the air, summoning more and more banshees until the silence that once was had turned violently into chaos. Wesley, Eric, Robert, Mayca and Charlie stood up in unison, startled by this sudden intruder. Almost instinctively, Wesley looked again outside the window. The man was still there but he had stopped walking. Instead he stared directly at the Computer Science building no doubt having heard the sudden commotion himself. Wesley waited for his next move, squinting to see better. The man clumsily took a step forward and then another and another, quickly gaining pace until he ran out of ground. Wesley watched as he plummeted, devoid of fear and apprehension, and hit the ground with a loud and wet thud. A mangled corpse lay spread eagled on the parking lot; its arms grotesquely twisted around its body and one of its legs bent in places it could never have bent before.

"Dude, look.", said Wesley in a deep, foreboding voice. Ric and Mayca had already run towards a window overlooking the building's lobby, but Charlie and Robert heard Wesley and were now standing behind him.

Someone had seen the man fall from the building and had rushed in to help him. It was one of the department's professors perhaps trying to pass some time smoking in the parking lot when the construction worker took the plunge. He checked its pulse and immediately drew out his phone to call the police. The corpse, to everyone's surprise, suddenly jerked and twitched. It reached out and grabbed onto the professor's leg. Caught off guard, he stumbled onto the ground. From an area obstructed by trees, they three onlookers saw another construction crew zombie scamper towards the professor in an ungainly gait. The professor's agonized screams merely blended with the growing chaos.

"Damn, is that..." Robert said under his breath. "Are they shooting a zombie movie here on campus?"

"With the professors as actors? Maybe. That'd be cool." said Charlie. They were both huddled against the window, looking around. "I don't see any camera crews and other staff though. What do you think, Wes?"

Wesley was already busy trying to call En, but the networks were flooded.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Another scream echoed through the corridors, ending with a stomach turning gurgle that sounded all too familiar. Wesley looked up and saw the other guys looking as dumbfounded as he was. It wasn't looking good. Could it really be a zombie outbreak?

"Damn it. I can't reach En. She's at her apartment. Whatever this is, if it's really what we think it is—"

"A fucking zombie apocalypse." Interjected Robert.

"Yes, well, if it is a zombie apocalypse then we have to reach En. We can't just sit here and hope she's okay. We've talked about this before, geeks that we are, and staying on campus with thousands of students about to become the walking dead isn't our most intelligent choice." Wesley talked fast, faster than usual even. Lucid zombie dreams never failed to instil fear in him on those nights that they haunted him. If he was dreaming, he thought, he wanted to wake up more badly than ever before. What, after all, is more lucid than the marriage of nightmare and reality?

"Yep, and if it's just starting now's the best time for us to move. Find a place we can hide in." said Charlie, bore a misleading sense of calm but his clenched fists and his tightened jaws betrayed his thoughts. He rushed over to Mayca.

Wesley jumped up and down incessantly; the adrenaline rush was starting. "All right, first things first, we need things to defend ourselves with—"

"—I'm on it—" replied Robert even before Wesley could finish what he was saying. He was about to run but Wesley blocked his way.

"—but we shouldn't split up. That's the last thing we want to do right now. There is strength in numbers and we are going to be outnumbered enough as we are together. Alone, each of us is as good as dead." said Wesley as he walked over to Ric who was still peering down from a ledge that overlooked the lobby.

"Who made you the leader?" asked Mayca. She was clinging tightly onto Charlie's arms, her fingers almost boring into skin. She was as shocked as she was scared. All of them were.

"I'm not," Wesley replied "I just want to get to En as soon as possible and ideally, I want to do that with all of us still alive."

"NOOO!" exclaimed Ric. He paced frantically and began to furiously assault the wall. "No. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuuuuuck! This shit can't be happening... shit! This can't be happening!"

"Dude, what the fuck?" said Robert.

"I still don't have a girlfriend! I still haven't found my girl and right now all the pretty girls are turning into zombie food!" Ric's voice boomed as he gave in to frustration. "How the fuck is that fair? How the FUCK is that—"

"RAAAARRRGHH!" exploded a voice from behind them. In their fear no one had noticed that the fire exit was slightly ajar and now a dark skinned rather rotund woman had entered through it. She lunged at Ric in a clumsy half-run. Ric turned quickly and let instincts kick in as he used both arms to hold her at bay. She snapped at him, her bites not inches from his cheek. Her nicotine-stained teeth clicked loudly as she forcefully bit air. Pushing with her entire weight, she managed to push Ric towards the open window, pinning him against the ledge with his upper body dangerously hanging over it.

Wesley and Robert were quick to react. They yanked her by the waist and in one continuous motion shoved her back through the fire exit. She stumbled backwards and fell over the railings. Robert immediately grabbed the door handles and slammed the door shut.

Ric was sitting on the floor. His eyes were wide open, his face was pallid in shock and his hands trembled uncontrollably. He was heaving breaths of air as fast as he was breathing them out.

"Were you hurt?" Robert inquired, offering Ric a hand so he could get up.

"No... Oh... God. I think... I think I grabbed her boobs." He looked at each of his friends as if he was pleading for someone to help.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Thus far all of the zombies had only reached the second floor. Some students and professors tried to hide inside classrooms. Luckily the Computer Science building's doors were protected with magnetic locks on top of the conventional locks.

They walked around the third floor passing by two fire safety boxes that each contained a rather blunt fire axe and a water hose. Robert and Wesley each took an axe. Charlie and Ric took mops from the maintenance room. With the fire axes, they turned the mop handles into makeshift spears. Their intention wasn't to kill as many zombies as possible on the way to En's apartment but to keep them alive long enough for them to get there.

Two zombies were chasing down a group of students across the second floor. One of them was a shirtless bum quite likely to have come from squatters' areas common to the outskirts of the university. A huge chunk of his torso was missing and the wounds were still fresh. His blood dripped onto the floor even as he walked. The other was one of the department's maintenance staff with the only visible signs of a bite being all the blood pooled around his shoulder.

The students ran towards the girls' restroom, crowding at the door as they hysterically shoved and pulled at each other to get inside. The zombies were relentless in their chase and managed to bite the neck of an unfortunate student before the others pulled him into the restroom. Immediately after the door slammed shut, the zombies began pounding and banging at the door. Being undead seemed to have rendered any physical limiters invalid. They hammered at the door with such force that the maintenance guy's arm broke with a sickening crack. It swung loosely beside him but he carried on, flinging his broken arm like a flail in an attempt to break the door open. With such blind ferocity, they would have been able to break the door out of its hinges or destroyed their limbs completely in the process. But, as luck would have it, they had noticed the group first as they descended the stairs.

"Those two are coming for us! Shit!" exclaimed Mayca. She was tightly holding onto a fire extinguisher with both hands. They had decided that although it would come in handy as a shield or as a club, it was indispensable for its real purpose. With all the commotion, someone was bound to have left a stove on or drop a cigarette onto the curtains. Any fortifications would have been immediately rendered useless. Then again, death by conflagration seemed sweeter than undeath by consumption.

Wesley and Robert took point. They waited for the zombies to charge. The shirtless man came for Robert. Robert held his ground and gripped tightly onto the axe. The zombie lunged at him in a manner quite similar to a toddler falling forward. Robert swung the axe up and with such force that the zombie's head snapped violently up. A disgusting crack gurgled inside his neck from an internally severed spine. The bluntness of the axe was evident. It shattered the zombie's jaw but didn't cleave it as one would expect an axe to. The shirtless zombie was knocked back and its head hung loosely behind him, hanging from stretched skin. Somehow, it still issued a breathless groan before falling down.

The maintenance guy barely missed Wesley and fell face first. Grabbing the opportunity, Wesley pinned the zombie down with his foot and swung at its head with the blunt axe. It took two swings for the zombie's head to get bashed in with an ungodly squish.

A grotesquely deformed zombie dragged its own head on the floor as it writhed like an earthworm locked in the throes of death yet not quite as fortunate. The huge wound in its side left a long trail of blood as it went on. Near it lay a man whose bashed head oozed blood and crushed brain. The macabre image tugged at the gag reflex and jerked at the soul.

"We have to keep going. There's gonna be more of these things soon." urged Wesley.

They went down the stairs and into the lobby. Students and faculty had somehow locked themselves inside the Serials Section. The group could do nothing but watch through the glass walls as old friends and professors were ripped open and devoured. Blood spattered onto glass, mocking them of their seemingly inevitable fate.

"Let's... Let's just go..." whispered Mayca to Charlie as she urged him on. She propped her head onto his shoulder and tried not to look.

The Computer Science building stood atop a hill, overlooking the Geology building and the College of Science building. Only a tree line obstructed the view of Katipunan Avenue and the rest of the city. On an ordinary day, the sunset would have coloured the sky a bright orange and a warm red. A cooling breeze would have kissed every tired person's cheek as he lazed into dream, basking in a silence accompanied by the soft snore of passing cars.

Towers of flame refused to welcome the night. Gunshots tore through the hellish screams. Thousands of people wailing, car alarms shrieking and vile monstrosities devouring dreams; a nightmare had unfolded before their eyes.

They traversed the ramp with Robert and Wesley taking lead. Charlie and Ric both carried on their backs their guitars, safe in their bags. They looked warily behind them and to the side, mop-spears prepared to defend their flanks. Mayca walked in the middle of them all, clutching the fire extinguisher.

"Keep this formation!" yelled Wesley, "Damn. We look really stupid right now, don't we? Oh well, let's just think about it as plating. Mayca already has the whipped cream ready anyway." He chuckled.

"Lay it on me. I'll be the dessert. I'm the sweetest." said Robert, stopping momentarily to make a lathering motion on his chest. Mayca made a sound that could have been a whimper or a laugh.

"I call main course then. I have the most meat after all." Wesley playfully looked down.

"Ewwww!" said Mayca breathlessly. Her fear still took hold of her attention.

"Hey, I was talking about my tummy.", retorted Wesley with a grin.

They kept on walking. Around them, students ran amuck. Some had banded into groups and were travelling further into the campus. Some were trying to fight. Some were running away. Others still were being eaten alive. A car drove past, its driver visible through the windshield. He was too busy pushing away his passenger that he accidentally ran over a student before losing control of the car. It careened off the road and fell down a slope and out of view. The student was on the ground, bloodied but conscious.

Mayca pleadingly looked at Robert. Robert simply shook his head apologetically.

"_Ulam_!" said Ric. (Filipino word for viand or delicacy.)

"Oh yes, yes you are, Ric.", replied Robert.

Charlie slightly raised his free hand, said "Heh. Toothpick." and smiled. Everyone had to pause for a while just to laugh their hearts out.

Psychiatrists, if there were any left, would have seen denial in that scenario. But in the many years of their friendship, way before the apocalypse, this group of friends have always found humor in any situation. It was not denial that fuelled it. It was, of all things, acceptance.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The group had managed to exit the campus via the gate that leads directly to C.P. Garcia Avenue. The road was filled with stranded cars. Visible from the gate was a tall pyre where a pile of cars had crashed. An explosion could happen at any moment, shooting shrapnel at every direction. Luckily, it was not in the direction the group had to take.

"Shit..." muttered Robert as he looked around. "This is fucked up."

"The cities in the Left 4 Dead series or even Resident Evil definitely looked much better than this.", muttered Charlie.

"I can name a hundred zombie novels and games that forgot to include this part of the apocalypse.", said Wesley.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.", muttered Robert once more.

The zombies could run—or rather the drunk equivalent of speedwalking—but alone they didn't pose any immediate threat. Being undead and having lost any limiting factors like pain or fear gave them the advantage of being stronger than living people. But, when in small numbers, it was easy to outrun them or simply shove them away. The zombies' numbers grew quickly but panic grew much faster.

They moved on, taking the slightly elevated sidewalk that was built over a small hill. It overlooked the road and was high enough to prevent any attacks from below. They huddled closely together, walking as fast as they could. Apprehension tightened their grips on their weapons. Adrenaline pushed their limbs to their limits. Fear stretched time to such an extent that seconds that felt like minutes felt like hours.

"The... the Math building's full of zombies.", said Mayca in a soft voice.

"There's usually more zombies there on a normal finals week." Robert jokingly said.

A tall metal net fence surrounded the perimeter of the university. It was all that separated them from a dozen or so zombies that struggled to reach them through the fence's holes. Chunks of flesh were missing from all of them. A few even had objects sticking out of their bodies like knives, forks and pens. Behind the zombies, the group could see several people still alive. Through the open windows on the upper floors peeked scared eyes, gawking dumbfounded as the world around them collapsed.

Near the entrance, a student shot at attacking zombies as he tried to lead a group of people out of the building. He must have taken the gun from a dead security guard. With each shot he took, they backed slowly into the building instead of moving forward as what must have been the plan. The noise attracted the zombies enough to stop even those that were already feeding. After just three shots, he had run out of bullets. All of them ran back inside screaming while a horde of zombies came after them in a frenzy.

Sight after sight brought further fear. The group had not noticed that in the few seconds that they watched from behind the fence, they had moved closer together. Their pace showed confusion; uncertain of whether to move faster to get away or move slower to defend better.

"Dude, gate!" exclaimed Ric from behind Wesley.

They were nearing an open gate. Not far from it were nearly a dozen zombies feeding on a man. He still screamed as they ripped him apart piece by piece.

"Oh fuck. What now?" asked Robert in one breath.

Wesley's guts tightened as he wracked his mind for an idea. It was hard to think when your mind was buzzing with adrenaline, thoughts and fears. Robert breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm himself down. Charlie adjusted his grip on his mop-spear. His face was stern and his jaw clenched. He surveyed his surroundings quietly. Ric was running on adrenaline. He bit his lip as he maintained watch of their side and rear.

"What if we cross the road here?" muttered Charlie. The tension in how he spoke made his voice break. He grit his teeth in exasperation. He wasn't so keen about dying but at that moment, surrounded by death, he felt powerless.

Wesley looked at the road beside them. They were already in a position low enough that it was almost the same level as the road. Cars and trucks were already stuck in traffic. Most of them had been abandoned. A few visible from where they were standing still had people in them who chose to take refuge inside their own cars rather than take their chances outside. Many people still ran and weaved through the mess of cars.

Wesley considered the risks. Their problems would be, first, if there were zombies that had been run over and were waiting underneath the cars. Second, zombies inside the cars that somehow aren't moving yet can easily break through the windows and reach for any of them. Third, there's always the chance of the number of people running around suddenly increasing significantly enough to cause a small stampede. Still, any of those were better than having to fend off a dozen zombies at once.

"Let's cross. We'll have to cross at one point or another anyway.", said Wesley, "Mayca, get down on the ground and check under the cars we'll have to pass by. We'll cover you."

Mayca quietly followed. "Nothing."

"Right. Robert, you take point. I'll tap the car doors with my axe if we get close enough." said Wesley, "If there's a zombie inside and it breaks the window, Ric, I want you to kill it. Charlie, you watch our back."

Robert took the lead. He weaved through the front of a blue Honda Civic. The windshield wasn't tinted. No one was inside. The next car was a taxi, with its passenger still inside. He was alive but he seemed almost catatonic. He sat in the middle of the rear passenger seat, hugging himself. They ignored him and continued on.

"So far so good..." said Robert as they reached the center island. A group of people passed them by, carrying backpacks and plastic bags full of their belongings. A small child lagged behind them, crying as he clung onto his mother's shirt. Wesley looked at the boy and heaved a sigh.

Robert walked on and scouted around as he went. Wesley tapped the cars with his axe. Nothing moved. With a sigh of relief, they were able to continue on the other side of the road and into Katipunan Avenue.

"Oh damn.", muttered Wesley. Monkeys did a backflip in his stomach. "En's apartment is all the way down this road. Let's hope things aren't that bad yet." Behind him, he heard Ric breathe deeply and curse under his breath. Mayca clung tightly onto the fire extinguisher and Charlie did his best to stay close.

"No heroics, okay?" said Wesley. "I don't care if it's a pretty girl or an old woman, heck, it doesn't even matter if it's a kid. We keep this formation and we keep going. We'll only TRY to help people if they're directly in our way." No one objected.

With a largely devout Christian country, even when protected by an understaffed and ill-equipped police and military force, crime rates were relatively low. Crimes were concentrated in areas where the desperately poor squatted and thrived on outsmarting other people. They lived in a harsh and unforgiving world that the lot of us never get to see. When the shit hit the fan, the norms of human society had a nervous breakdown. No one had anything to their name except the clothes on their backs and whatever they could carry.

Katipunan Avenue seemed to stretch infinitely in the growing darkness. Night was swiftly approaching. In place of its usual silence were still the screams, the gunshots and the myriad noises that chase away sleep. Somewhere in the distance, Pachelbel's Canon boomed loudly—mocking the panicked mind with the sounds of ease.

23 year old Gerald Salazar was on his way home from a friends' house after a whole night of partying. He woke up an hour past noon with a splitting headache. The taxi ride home was torture; the car was filled with the chatter of a radio show DJ and the driver was blabbing incessantly about his opinions on how the current government should run the country. He was ten minutes from the luxurious comforts of his condo unit but as his luck would have it, the traffic was at a standstill. Impatient, Gerald handed the driver a two hundred peso bill and exited the taxi without waiting for change. Not seconds after he had left the vehicle, a man about Gerald's age began tapping at the taxi's passenger seat window. Gerald impulsively turned, partly from curiosity but mostly from boredom. The driver rolled down the windows swiftly, barely looking at his would-be passenger. The passenger just stood there, bent slightly over, gazing at the driver. By then Gerald was already standing a few feet away from the taxi. All of a sudden the man launched himself inside the car, flailing and clawing at the driver. Panicked, the taxi driver stepped on the gas pedal and rocketed the car forward. It only managed to move two meters before hitting a nearby parked car. The man's feet hung out of the taxi's window. Suddenly blood spurted onto the taxi's windshield. Gerald watched in shock as the driver hopelessly pushed and shoved while his assailant gnawed at his arm. All around him similar screams for help ensued.

Roman had been a jeepney driver for more than 20 years until an unfortunate accident forced him to stop. With a permanently damaged leg, Roman spent his remaining days selling Japanese sweet corn along Katipunan Avenue. There were nights when he cried himself to sleep, feeling weak and useless because of his inability to find a better way of providing for his family. He wished he had a better life, a chance at a better education or at the very least some luck. Despite all the hardships, he stayed strong. He may only have the simple things in life, he thought to himself, but he has everything he needs to be happy. With him everyday in his corn stand was his wife and his only daughter, giving him every reason he has to strive to make the most out of life.

Business had been slow and the day was nothing but dull. But, when a taxi parked across the street from where his sweet corn stand was, Roman wished the day had remained dull, instead.

"Inside! Get into Music 22!" bellowed Roman at the top his lungs. The city was in a state of panic. Clutching a wooden cane, he pointed towards a nearby high rise where a small karaoke joint was located. Roman knew the security guard, being a frequent buyer of his, and all it took from Roman was a nod for the guard to understand the situation and what needs to be done. The shop had overhead doors should it become necessary.

"Goddammit kid, move your ass away from there!" yelled Roman. Gerald stood still, staring at the bloodied windshield. It took him a couple of seconds before he snapped out of it. Baffled but now conscious of his surroundings, Gerald cautiously crossed the street towards the screaming old man.

Roman looked around him and caught sight of a fellow shopkeeper getting mauled and eaten by a group of zombies. He wanted so much to run towards him to help, but he knew it was too late. All he could do was watch as an old friend screamed in agony. Roman gripped his cane tightly and fought the urge to cry. He made the sign of the cross and silently asked God for guidance. If the world was about to end, he was determined to stay by his family's side and see it through.

"Go on, hurry, get inside. I'll be right behind you." he told his wife. She looked at him, anxiety etched on her face, and shook her head. "Go on, damn it, go!" he said as he urged her on. She picked up their daughter and ran for Music 22. The security guard wanted to help Roman but he also had to guard the people inside and the crowd still coming.

"Come on, kid! Hurry up!" beckoned Roman towards Gerald. Gerald felt as if his legs were made of lead. His head throbbed violently. He wanted to run but his legs won't listen. He walked slowly towards Roman with his gaze fixed onto the ground.

"Sonuva—run, kid, run!" roared a nervous Roman. Zombies were gaining on Gerald, coming from different directions. Gerald, as if he didn't hear Roman, kept his gaze to the ground and walked slowly. Gerald's head throbbed harder still. A loud ringing in his head was all that he could hear. His heart pounded so hard that it hurt. He could hear his erratic breath. He could feel his hands going numb.

"They're behind you! RUN!" roared Roman. Gerald turned his head and saw them behind him. Two zombies—no, three—scuttled towards him. Gerald sprinted. He ran like he's never ran before. He ran towards Roman... then towards the armed security guard not far behind the old man.

*THUD!*

Gerald was overcome with fear. He had pushed Roman aside, with the sudden instinct of leaving the old man as bait so that the zombies won't reach him. The old man lost his balance and fell to the ground. The zombies came after the easier prey.

"NOOOOO! ROMAN! My husband...!" screamed his wife from behind the security guard. Her daughter looked at her curiously as she was too innocent to understand what was happening. Gerald reached the door and pushed people aside so that he could get inside Music 22. The guard's nostrils flared in anger. He hit Gerald unconscious with the butt of his shotgun then hurried back outside.

"Sons of bitches... Get away from me!" yelled Roman. He was on the ground, kicking at the zombies and hitting them with his cane. The security guard couldn't get a clear shot. Roman hit one of them square in the jaw and it fell down. Only moments later, it was already trying to get up.

"WRAAAAAAAH!"

Wesley had charged with his axe and swung hard at the zombie on its knees. Its head caved in with a juicy squelch and the zombie fell limply back to the ground. Robert shoved at the other zombie and pivoted before swinging at its head. He was always inclined to do things with a flair. Ric had stabbed the remaining zombie's eye with the mop-spear and was already busy yanking it out.

Mayca put down the extinguisher beside her for a moment and helped Roman up.

"Got scratched, bit or anything?" asked Wesley. He had a big grin on his face.

"I... uh... no, I don't think so.", replied Roman. Wesley wasn't listening.

"Can you make it on your own, sir?" said Robert politely. Robert looked around to make sure there weren't anymore zombies nearby. Roman fixed himself up and tested his cane before nodding. The group left off immediately, back in their makeshift schiltrom formation.

"Thanks!" exclaimed Roman, before going into Music 22 with the others.

The group was quiet for a while. They kept a rather quick pace, paying little heed to the looters and zombies that weren't within reach.

"Your smile's starting to get creepy.", said Ric to Wesley who was still grinning.

"He's like that too when we have a go at martial arts.", replied Robert. "It's either the adrenaline or he twistedly enjoys the carnage. My money's on twisted."

"Dude, you don't have money.", replied Wesley. Robert facepalmed and Charlie chuckled. Mayca gave Robert a pat on the back. Ric laughed hard but it appeared as if it was about something else.

"Amp. GG. Robert said "martial arts", dude, not marital arts.", said Wesley as he half realized and half guessed what Ric was thinking.

"What?" said Ric in a how-can-you-blame-me kind of joking tone, "He said you had a go at it." The group laughed while shaking their heads.

"Oh god I feel violated.", said Robert while jokingly covering his chest with his arms.

"That's not what you said that time.", teased Wesley. The group facepalmed, laughed and shook their heads. Around them, Canon played on, glasses shattered, people screamed, zombies groaned and humanity crumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"No... The girls' dormitory..." whispered Eric.

"They must have closed the gate before any zombies got in. Ric, it's okay. All the girls there will be fine.", said Robert.

"No, they won't.", replied Ric with a grimace. "I'm not there with them."

"Come on, Ric, you still have me.", said Robert with a playful girlish smile and batting eyelashes.

"Fuck. You. Dammit," muttered Ric as he shook his head "please eat me now."

For a moment, they paused. "...and shit, I mean the zombies, not you!"

As the group got closer to En's apartment, anticipation heightened. Wesley was beyond worried. He wanted to run. He wanted so bad to charge in and find out if she's okay. He struggled to keep his composure, to stick to a strategic approach instead of resorting to rash action. He let his mind wander to the axebitten Germanic tribes as they fought against Roman legions. He had to keep thinking to keep himself calm. If En was alive in there, he'd be of no use to her if he ends up dead at the gates.

"I hope En's okay..." whispered Mayca.

"Tsk.", muttered Ric in anxiety.

"She's fine in there.", said Wesley calmly. "She can take care of herself."

He said it with such a cold certainty that pierced the heavy air. Robert looked at him both in surprise and in curiosity. In his mind he remembered something Wesley told him years before they met En, back when he was cold and cynical.

_Sometimes the truth is what you want it to be. Tell yourself the same lie enough times and it becomes true. That, is how you build an air of confidence._

Robert thought back to that moment and looked at Wesley. Robert had noticed that this time Wesley spoke with such weight that it seemed as if he wanted the world to believe his words enough to make it true.

The gate to En's apartment stood two meters tall and had a span of around three meters. Like most gates, it featured a small door that enabled the passage of residents without opening the entire gate. From a distance, it was hard to tell but the door seemed open.

A construction site stood to their left; the walls and the foundations were already finished. It was bordered by tall walls of corrugated steel. To their right was the Loyola Heights Barangay Hall which at the moment seemed abandoned. They had harldy placed one foot towards En's apartment when loud moans and guttural groans issued from within the construction site's walls. Dull thuds came from the other side of the wall, shaking it visibly. At first it appeared to be just one person, then two, three until there seemed to be more than a dozen of them pounding at the walls. It shook but it stood its ground.

The group moved cautiously on towards the gate. The zombies at the other side of the walls did not seem to be trying to come after them as the sounds did not shift even as they moved away. One of them, Wesley remembered from old comics, must have been attracted by something and started thumping against the wall. Everyone else merely followed suit. Zombie see, zombie do.

The door on the gate was open. Beneath it was the corpse of one of the compound's security guards. He had come outside to check on the commotion and must have been set upon by a group of zombies. Only his upper body remained intact albeit missing chunks here and there. His legs were reduced to mere tatters of pants in a pool of blood and guts. He was facing the doorway; one of his arms hung on the base of the gate.

"Disgusting.", Charlie muttered.

Wesley nudged at its bloodied torso with his foot. "If you're a zombie, say uhhhhhh..."

"Uhhhh..." grunted the corpse. It tried to push itself up with what remained of his arms but his bones snapped and he fell back onto the ground with a wet flop. Robert heaved his axe high and swung at its head, smashing its skull. Almost as soon as Robert's axe had hit the pavement, Wesley went through the doorway. He walked quickly, ready to swing at any zombie that dared to stand in his path.

The door to Unit-F was open.

"Shit..." grunted Wesley as he rushed in. The rest of the group followed.

"Oh no..." murmurred Mayca.

"En!" called Ric.

"Dude don't...!" whispered Robert, "...oh forget it. EN!"

Finding no one in the first floor, they all rushed towards the stairs but as they reached the foot of the staircase, blood greeted them. A long trail of blood dripped from the second floor hallway. They rushed upstairs.

Wesley stood quietly as he gazed upon the bloody corpse that lay before him. Her white nighties were stained red with blood where chunks of her flesh were eaten off. A long trail of blood was smeared from the leftmost door to the ground where it met with her long black hair.

"Shit..." whimpered Ric, "...that's..."

"It's not her.", replied Wesley. "Look. That girl's head is bashed in."

Wesley immediately knocked hard at the door to his right.

"En! Love, it's me... Wesley. I'm with the guys. Open up!" he shouted. Silence answered. Everyone stood there nervously looking at each other. "En, come on, open up! It's okay, we're here now!"

*CLICK!*

"NUNUUUUUUM!" yelled a girl's voice as soon as the door opened. She clung onto Wesley, saying "Nunum" over and over in between sobs.

"Nenen..." whispered Wesley. Tears ran down his cheeks, warm reminders that they were still alive. He held her tightly in his arms then let go for a moment only to walk into the room before hugging her again. Everyone went inside and closed the door behind them. All of them were crying: all happy to be alive, all happy to be together.

En went on to hug each one of them.

"Ewiiiiiiiiiiik..." she cried out as she squeezed Ric in an embrace.

"Chaweeeeee..." She jumped slightly as she hugged Charlie who got knocked back a couple of steps. He patted her head with his free hand.

"Makaaaaaaa..." This time she walked slowly and embraced Mayca. They cried in each other's shoulders.

"Niiiiiiiiiiiii!" shrieked En.

*BIFF*

"Ow!" yelled Robert as he reeled from En's punch. "What was that for?" En only replied with a hug.

They each found a spot in the room to sit down on. The adrenaline was wearing off and fatigue immediately kicked in. It had been a long day and a very frightening trip. The world as they knew it had ended, but as it seemed, it was going to take a while for the thought to sink in.

"Oh, I almost forgot..." En stood back up, wiped off her tears and went to the washroom. "Shayne, you can come out now. It's okay, it's just my friends."

The door opened and Shayne came out, her expression was one addled by fear and the sudden sight of strangers. "Hi..." she said shyly. She looked at each one of the group as if she had just awakened from a dream and was not sure whether she was truly awake or still dreaming. She took a seat in a corner by herself.

Robert sat beneath the window and rested his head against the wall. He closed his eyes and breathed deep as if in meditation. Charlie and Mayca sat on a spare mattress; Charlie leaned against the wall with his guitar by his side and Mayca rested on his lap. He thoughtfully ran his fingers through her hair. En and Wesley were across them on En's bed. She sat in front of him with her legs resting on his as he hugged her. Ric sat by the door, holding his guitar.

"Dude, do you think it will be alright if I play my guitar a bit?" asked Ric.

"Yeah, sure, just try to play as soft as you can.", replied Wesley.

They were all exhausted and that one small room provided much needed refuge. For a while, they felt safe. They felt secure.

"Nenen, where's Ting?" asked Wesley.

"Tingu!" said En, "I think she's in her room with Rex. I was here playing on Sera when Shayne barged in and slammed the door behind her. Shayne's face was all pale and scared looking. When I opened the door again to check out what was happening, I saw that girl outside clawing at Tingu's door. I got scared but I noticed Shayne was still holding the chopping board for some reason so I took that and hit the zombie outside with it. I just kept on hitting and hitting and hitting until it didn't move anymore. I was so scared Num..."

Wesley kissed her forehead.

"Shayne said Rex went inside and ran upstairs to Ting without closing the front door behind him. When she saw that zombie girl coming after Rex, she ran upstairs too but Ting's door was already locked so she tried my door and that's how she got here." continued En.

"Hmmm, I see. Love, we're just going to check on them okay?" said Wesley, "Robert, come with me. Let's check the other room."

Robert looked at Wesley sleepily and lazily stood up. He picked up his axe and shook himself awake. In mere moments, he was as alert as he was before they got into the apartment.

"Need any help?" asked Charlie.

"Nah, we'll be fine. You guys should get some rest.", replied Robert.

Wesley opened the door and stepped out of the room. The zombie girl's corpse laid perfectly still on the floor; a ghoulish tableau of what the world had become.

"We'll need to do something about that later.", muttered Wesley. He looked at the door across the hall and felt paranoia creeping up his spine. He swung his axe at the dead girl's head just to make sure it will never move again.

"Ting, open the door.", barked Wesley. Nobody answered. "Ting? Are you okay in there?"

"Let me try.", said Robert."Ting?" He stepped back and swung his axe at the doorknob. It came loose and fell onto the zombie girl's head. Robert tugged at the locking mechanism from inside and the door swung slowly open. Ting and Rex were huddled in the corner of the room. He held a bloodstained shirt to his shoulder while Ting clung onto him. Upon seeing Robert and Wesley enter the room, Rex slowly stood up.

"Leave us alone! Rex is fine! Please, just leave us alone!" shouted Ting.

"Ting, he's been bitten. You've watched all the movies, you know what's gonna happen.", responded Robert.

"You don't know that. That's the movies, this is real life!" yelled Ting angrily.

"I can't risk anything like that happening around En.", Wesley said coldly.

"That's our problem! I'll stay here with him. I'll—"

Wesley was already dragging Rex out of the room by his arm. He struggled but he was already too weak from losing a lot of blood. Ting screamed at Wesley, cursed at him and tried her hardest to stop him but Robert was blocking her way. She kept trying to push Robert aside but he won't budge. She pushed one more time and got lucky, hitting Robert's rib with her shoulder blades thus making him reel back a little in pain. It was enough for her to be able to run downstairs after Rex and Wesley.

"Stop!" yelled Ting. Wesley turned around and found her holding a kitchen knife. "What are you planning to do to him? Are you going to kill him?"

"Yes.", replied Wesley in the same cold manner.

"But he's still alive! Can you really kill a living human being?" said Ting, she brandished the knife around while she pointed it towards Wesley. Robert had come down the stairs but stopped a few steps down to keep his distance from her.

"You don't know what I'm capable of.", said Wesley. He grinned that twisted grin. "Fine then, you can have him. Here." Wesley pushed Rex towards Ting and he weakly stumbled onto her. She caught him and helped him stand up.

"Now, get out!" barked Wesley.

"What? Are you crazy? We're going to die out there!" Ting replied. Rex tried to speak but he seemed so faint that it looked like he was about to fall down.

"Move it! Now!" snapped Wesley, taunting her with the axe. The others upstairs had come out of the room to see what was happening. Ting inched slowly towards the door in fear. Robert followed closely, axe at the ready. He was watching Rex. If he were to turn into a zombie, Robert was prepared to cleave Rex's head immediately before anyone else got hurt.

"You can't do this to us! We'll get eaten alive!" bawled Ting. Tears were gushing out of her eyes.

"Well, YOU will, at least. The way I see it, you can either go with him out there and wait until you get ripped to shreds or you can stay here and let us do what we have to do.", said Robert, finally breaking his silence.

Ting shouted and wailed as she cried onto Rex's chest. "I'm sorry..." She walked away from him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" *SHHK*

A bloodcurdling scream echoed in the first floor. Rex fell backwards out of the doorway; a kitchen knife sticking out from one of his eyes. Ting fell to the floor, weeping and sobbing in a sniveling mess. Wesley closed the door and went back upstairs.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"Well, the gate's closed and I take it if there are survivors in this compound they won't think of going outside at night, right?" asked Wesley. En was lying on his lap, playfully scratching at his tummy as she tried to fall asleep. By 6:00 PM, the zombies had already outnumbered the human race. By 8:00 PM, the whole city had fallen dark and silent—asleep perhaps, or dead.

"There's no power. No lights. It's too dangerous to do anything at night.", whispered Charlie. Mayca was already asleep on the floor, lying on the small spare mattress they were sitting on. Charlie was lying on his back right beside her. He fiddled with his watch, watching the second hand tick its life away.

"We sleep, then. We're all exhausted. Let's think about what to do next tomorrow.", muttered Robert who had taken his place back underneath the window. He was on his side, facing the wall and even as he spoke, he didn't turn around to look at them. "Good night."

Then there was silence. It was an odd sort of peace. It mocked and comforted. It reassured as much as it scared. Even with all of En's belongings crammed into one corner of the room, there was hardly enough space for all of them. Eric had fallen asleep where he sat by the door. His guitar rested lightly on his forehead. On the floor in front of him, Shayne and Ting slept on one of the spare comforters.

The silence that enveloped them was all that remained of their peace. Their dreams held the only remnants of a world that once was.

Wesley caressed En's cheek, appreciating its warmth as she gazed longingly at her. She held the innocence of a beautiful child as she slept serenely. He ran his fingers through her hair and she smiled sweetly in her sleep.

"I don't deserve someone like you.", whispered Wesley. "You are too kind, too wonderful and too fragile for a guy like me. But if I ever could, I used to think to myself, I will love you and give you all that I have. I will always do all that I can to spend just one more day with you."

He laughed softly to himself as he watched her sleep.

"I'm really selfish, huh?" He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "Whatever happens tomorrow and for all the days to come, I'm happy now... because of you. I won't let you die."

Tears began to fall from her eyes.

The first people to wake up were Wesley, Robert and Charlie. Charlie and Wesley carried the dead zombie girl outside while Robert laboured to clean up the blood. Charlie and Wesley moved both the girl's corpse and Rex's to the farthest end of the compound. A blue pickup truck, which in their rush they had not noticed the day before, was parked near the gate in the same row as En's apartment unit. Wesley looked at it and remembered that its owners had a big dog that was usually sleeping under it. Only a leash remained where it should have been.

The air was dead still, adding to the gloomy and eerie atmosphere. There was no hum of traffic from the nearby road. There were no sounds from the adjacent construction site. There were no remaining signs of life or undeath. It seemed almost as if everyone but them had disappeared. Charlie and Wesley rushed back to the apartment.

By the time that they were back inside, Robert was already finished cleaning and had already began to prepare food. Wesley slumped at the sofa while Charlie sat at the dining table. A big square window let them see outside but it was covered by a curtain and a screen that made it unlikely for anyone outside to see them immediately.

"I guess the first thing we have to do is make sure we find any survivors within the compound and take out all the zombies that had gotten in. After that we'll burn all the corpses and start gathering up everything that we can use. Hopefully we'll have enough to not have to leave this place for a long time.", explained Wesley. Charlie and Robert faintly nodded in acknowledgement.

"How do you like your eggs?" asked Robert.

"Definitely not manhandled... or kicked for that matter.", replied Wesley.

"I prefer mine unfertilized!" declared a voice from upstairs. En had just woken up and was on her way down. The three guys burst into laughter at her remark. "Good morning!" she said, bubbly as ever, as if nothing was wrong with the world.

"Good morning, love. Well, you're in a nice mood.", replied Wesley.

Upstairs, soft music from Ric's guitar began to reverberate through the walls. In the same room, Shayne sat silently watching Ric share his music. There was an eerie air of unease as two strangers dissolved in the silence, acknowledging yet barely noticing each other's presence. Ting slept serenely beside Shayne.

Mayca had also come downstairs, opting immediately to sit on Charlie's lap. They all found their places: Charlie and Mayca took to the dining table. Robert toiled by the sink. En sat on the sofa's armrest teasing Robert about how womanly she looks from her perspective. Wesley sat beside her, gazing at the tiled floor. After a moment's reprieve, Ric came down the stairs with his guitar in hand. Shayne lazily followed behind him as if she were still in a surreal, sleep-like stupor. He sat beside Wesley. Shayne took a seat on an empty chair by the dining table. Upstairs, the sound of a door closing loudly suggested that Ting was also awake.

"So... what now?" asked Charlie. Mayca still sat on his lap, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Beats me... We could really be in a zombie apocalypse spread all across the world. But, it could just as well have been contained immediately. Either way, it's eerily silent out there and I don't think I want that to change just yet.", replied Wesley.

"We'll need more weapons and supplies. There's lots of places we can check out. Hopefully they haven't been looted yet or..." murmured Robert, almost as much to himself as towards the others. He was furiously scrubbing his hands under the cold, running water of the faucet.

"I'd rather we stay here for now. Clear out the compound and see if there are other people in here. It's likely that there are.", replied Wesley. Ric was quiet, a strange mixed expression of frustration and rage on his face. He seemed to have been lost in thought.

"Hey, Ric, are you okay?" asked Mayca with a slight chuckle.

Ric responded as if he had just snapped out of a dream; closing his eyes tightly then opening them again and repeating this quickly a couple more times. "Huh?... No, I'm fine. I just zoned off for a moment there I think.", replied Ric, "Shit. GG.", then laughed.

"We need more food. Yes, definitely more food.", declared En with a sudden glimmer in her eyes.

"Holy crap. If En goes hungry... soup-soup.", Robert's eyes widened. There have been, on many occasions, times that En had been subject to a bad mix of extremely hot weather, fatigue and hunger. As a result, she dozes off if only for a moment before rebooting as an entirely different person. They called her alternate personality "soup-soup En" because the first time they had seen that side of her, she kept saying the words "Soup! Soup!" in reference to instant Nido soup—also known as sticky water with eggs. When soup-soup, she does a myriad of unusual things ranging from singing one line from a song many times over, running after cats, trying to eat air to occasionally attempting to suck out Wesley's eyes. Soup-soup En is very unpredictable. She can be pretending to be a cat one moment, snuggling up to people who instinctively rub her behind the ears or pat her head, then punching and clawing at people in the next.

"Soup! Soup!" cheered En, before donning a grin that rivals the Cheshire cat.

"Aaah! No!" Robert stepped back from En. It was a silly yet heartening scene.

"Who'll go out and clear out the compound?" asked Charlie. Everyone was still smiling but knew that the planning still had to continue.

"Well, there's a lot of area to cover...", Wesley paused to think, "and we still need to start barricading doors and windows aside from finding and making new weapons. I think it'd be best if we have at least two groups clearing up the place." Charlie answered with a nod.

"First two floors are likely to have a lot of zombies in them. The upper floors on the other hand are more likely to have survivors in them.", continued Wesley.

"Fuck. Humans. Disasters like this bring out the best and the absolute worst in people.", said Robert.

"True, but it's only been a day and even we are acting quite like nothing's happened. Besides, no matter how cold most of us can be when needed, it's not like we can easily throw survivors out should we find them..." Wesley paused as if to ponder something, "...anyway, I guess that means Robert and I should take the lower floors. Charlie and Ric will check the upper floors.", spoke Wesley.

Mayca took a moment's pause before gripping Charlie's hands tightly within hers. "You don't really have to split up, right? I mean, it's safer if you're all together. Charlie..." Mayca fell silent. She gazed at Charlie's eyes and silently pleaded to him. Everybody's eyes turned to Charlie.

"Dude, your call.", said Robert.

Charlie looked at Mayca, and Mayca in turn looked at him with an unmistakable expression of worry and fear. "W-what if... what if I come with them? Yeah, that's it. I'll go with them.", said Mayca without so much as taking her eyes off of Charlie's. He looked at her sternly and held her gaze. He shook his head. Mayca's grip tightened slowly until she could not hold her emotions any longer and hugged him tightly. Charlie remained silent and patted her lightly on her back. She clung tightly onto him. Charlie patted her quickly twice as a signal for her to let go. She hugged him tighter. Charlie sighed. She let him go.

"Right, then. Who wants to try my eggs?" said Robert.

Charlie, Wesley, Ric and Robert all went out of the apartment after breakfast. Shayne, Mayca and En decided to collect materials they could use from inside the apartment to obscure if not barricade the doors and the windows. Ting stayed upstairs by herself and no one tried to convince her to do otherwise.

Wesley and Robert held onto their axes like modern Vikings about to go into the fray. Charlie stuck to the mop-spear but Ric chose to forego his and went instead with one of En's frying pans.

"We want to either finish them off quickly or at a distance. When it comes to zombies, I think blunt is the best way to go.", grinned Wesley like the weapons geek that he was.

The door to Unit E was slightly ajar. Wesley kicked the door and Robert charged inside. Ric and Charlie didn't stay to watch, but it wasn't long until they heard the cacophonous crashing of plates followed by a dull, wet thud. Charlie and Ric climbed cautiously up the stairs. They both took note of objects and places of interest in his mind. After clearing out the compound, the entire group had decided to take anything and everything that they can, no matter how useless it may seem to be.

The fourth floor seemed desolate. From the veranda, the two guys can see the road right outside the gate and the community hall right across it. A few zombies walked around inside the community hall, all bloodied and pale. To their right, they had a good view of Katipunan avenue as it stretched as if infinitely towards the University. The usual early morning rush hour had been replaced by what seemed like a frozen image of a sickening array of mutilated corpses, stranded cars and hundreds of zombies. Here, a student was on her way to school; complete with a shoulder bag in one hand and on the other a severed arm. There, a man went for his morning walk—now his morning shamble—and was greeted by the nurse scattered all over the pavement and half the bank security guard.

All the doors on the 4th floor were closed. Charlie tried a door and found that it wasn't locked. He pushed it in and stepped back. Ric held the frying pan like it was a Teflon coated non-stick tennis racket, anticipating the worst to come out of the door.

"I-Is anyone there?" stammered Ric, "Fuck... fuck you if you're there! Come out already!" He tried his hardest to don an air of confidence, but a soft whimper that punctuated his words revealed his fear.

"Ughhh..." groaned a voice from inside the apartment unit.

"Damn.", said Charlie. His face was grim. He clenched his jaw and readied his spear. Trepidation nagged at his senses.

"Those two downstairs are the ones more used to doing stupid things.", said Ric. Charlie looked at him and quietly chuckled. He then gestured for Ric to go inside first.

Ric looked into the room and bit his lip. He let out a very heavy sigh before moving in. The upper floor units looked very different from En's apartment. These were the much cheaper units, allowing almost ten tenants to occupy each. These units were best described as long and narrow houses with the living room and the kitchen on one side and five bedrooms on the other.

"A lot of people should be here. Why aren't there people here at all? What day is it today?" asked Charlie.

"Saturday, if I remember right. Maybe most of them went back to their provinces yesterday or something.", replied Ric.

Charlie surveyed the kitchen and wondered if there were much things available for use in those kitchen cupboards. Ric, on the other hand, stared intently at the bedroom doors.

"Uuuuughhh.." groaned a voice from within one of the rooms.

Both of them looked apprehensively at a closed wooden door behind which the sound seemed to be coming from. Ric stepped back from the door and repositioned himself beside Charlie. Charlie, on the other hand, moved towards the door with spear point aimed at the door. He tapped the door twice. The dull thud was answered with further moans.

"Ughh... I-Is... Is someone there?", said the muffled voice of a woman from behind the door "...my baby... AHHHHHHH!"

Charlie moved aside and motioned for Ric to open the door. Ric twisted the doorknob, gave the door a good push and reflexively jumped back with the pan readily raised above his shoulder.

What greeted them was a woman sitting atop the lower tier of a double decked bed. Beneath her, a pool of blood caked and crusted was being constantly supplemented by a bite on her left leg. She rested one hand on her pregnant belly while the other, clutching a butcher knife, was raised and aimed at the two men who had entered the room.

Charlie trained his spear steadily at the woman while he carefully assessed the wound on her leg from afar. The grim realization that this pregnant woman had been infected made him pause for much longer than a moment, weighing morality over survival. Sweat dripped from his forehead down the bridge of his nose.

Ric was quiet beside Charlie. His sight had followed the pool of blood to its source. A blood soaked blanket covered a lifeless body that lay face down beside the bed. The contour of its form revealed a head that was too far from the shoulders. Ric turned to look at the butcher knife in the woman's hand. Blood crusted at the blade. That a father had fought his way to protect his wife and unborn child in the safety of this room was inspiring... but that he died and damned his family to undeath by doing so was more than devastating.

"WHO'S IN THERE?" bellowed a hoarse voice from the apartment's entrance. Ric, who was standing partially outside the pregnant woman's room, turned to see the source. He had moved but an inch only to face the grimacing muzzle of a Glock 9mm.

"Allan, put the gun down, they're just kids.", spoke a short, plump woman that was unmistakably the uncanny stereotype of the aunt that everyone has. The short bob hair, the long, loose duster and the permanent menacing scowl commanded a familiar feeling in all that were in the room. Allan, who was one of the compound's security guards, immediately put his gun down as if ordered by a high ranking military officer.

"AGHHHHH!" screamed the pregnant woman. Ric and Charlie had already stepped aside when Allan rushed into the room.

"Who is it, Allan?" shouted the plump woman who still stood outside the door.

Inside the room, the security guard Allan had his gun aimed at the pregnant woman. Looking around, he immediately noticed the woman's wound and the blanketed corpse that rested beside the bed she sat on. It was apparent that they have had their share of zombies in the night that passed. His eyes were wide open as if a part of him was still in shock; given their predicament, it was likely that it would always stay that way. He bent down to reach for the blanket covering the corpse and did so without taking neither eyes nor gun away from the wounded pregnant woman. She screamed loudly and violently in pain. Charlie watched intently from right outside the room. It wasn't that Allan feared that the pregnant woman could turn into a zombie at any moment. The security guard, in his fear, felt quite uncertain as to whether or not this hysterical woman was in fact a flesh-eating monster.

"Oh Lord!" the guard breathless exclaimed as he pulled the sheets of the corpse. Its head had been severed and was resting half a foot from the base of its neck. Its face had been brutally disfigured by many knife wounds to such a point that the corpse was barely recognizable. Allan looked at it and disgust, holding one hand to his mouth as he swallowed back a bit of vomit.

SNAP! SNAP!

The head suddenly began to move, biting furiously at the air. Its dead eyes rolled around in its sockets to stare at the security guard's face. Allan stumbled backwards, pushing with his feet until his back was against the wall. He aimed his gun at the zombified head and shot off three rounds. The first one missed it by an inch, the next shattered its teeth and the last which hit it squarely in one eye finally stopped its violently snapping jaws.

There was a brief moment of silent disbelief.

"NOOOOO!" wailed the pregnant woman on her bed. Her loud cries of pain turned quickly into muffled sobs.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The cloudless blue sky gave way to the blazing, unforgiving sun as it reached down to kiss the pavement. Dried blood boiled and sizzled as the tranquil immobility of the world let its surface roast under the midday sun. The ungodly smell of all things foul and rotting simmered from invisible embers on the ground. On pallid cheek, a cold bead of sweat introduced itself to gnashing teeth.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three consecutive shots pierced through the stagnant air, cracking the seams of a false serenity. In an instant, Wesley felt as if hundreds upon hundreds of prying eyes were set on him. A paralyzing chill engulfed him. Soaked in blood from neck to toe, he hurriedly went to the living room window of Unit H.

"Were those gunshots? Wait... gunshots! Shit!" he hurried back inside the apartment. "Dude, we need to get to the gate, now!"

Robert was in the east wing 2nd floor bedroom of Unit H. He ran to the window to see what caused the commotion on the upper floors, momentarily ignoring his task. In that fleeting moment the horrid zombie of the unit's owner, who had sought shelter inside the washroom after having been bit, ambled towards its unwary prey. Robert instantly turned around after hearing the zombie's heavy footsteps as it dragged its weight across the floor.

"Dude, you okay in there? We really need to get to the gate right now. Those were gunshots! Noise attracts zombies!" yelled Wesley, "...well, at least in the new zombie comics.", he whispered on.

Robert assessed the situation carefully. A king-sized bed separated him from the zombie and a zombie separated him from the door. Axe, bed, zombie, door...

Robert grinned as he shifted his grip further down the axe haft. The zombie lunged forward at an ungainly pace. With a quick burst of energy, Robert swiftly placed his foot onto the soft mattress and propped himself up onto the bed. He stepped forward, changing his stance halfway into a crouch, then gracefully pivoted on his heel. He did a full mid-air pirouette, axe whirling in a flurry, and squarely landed a blow at the zombie's face with all of his weight added to the momentum of the whirling axe. The blade lodged into the zombie's skull dragging him forcefully onto the floor as Robert landed right next to him. The zombie's skull shattered internally as soon at head and axe made impact. Robert pulled out the fire axe with ease and in one fluid motion upon falling, exited through the door, vaulted over the staircase railings and reached the first floor.

"Oh my God, we heard gunshots... What's happening? Where's Charlie? Is he okay?" asked Mayca frantically and without breath. She was standing outside on the small yard, barefoot and teary-eyed.

Before Wesley could reply, someone started yelling from the top floor. Mayca looked up and found Ric waving his pan. Charlie stood beside him, smiling. Robert jumped out of Unit H's doorway all hyped up and energetic.

"Dude!" shouted Robert. He had barely settled on his feet when he noticed movement on the 3rd floor. Robert and Wesley looked up. Zombies were coming out of the apartment units they haven't cleared yet, attracted by the loud noise; like a dinner bell inviting everyone to a tasty meal. One by one they poured out of the doorways until there were a dozen of them in all scattered around the compound's upper floor hallways.

Ric and Charlie were quick to notice that they were slowly being surrounded. They ran back into the room and closed the door behind them. The old woman, the pregnant girl and the security guard entered the apartment unit one door away from where the pregnant girl was. Within a matter of seconds, both doors were being attacked by a horde of more than a dozen zombies.

"Mayca, get back inside and barricade the doors. Start barricading the windows too. We can handle this.", commanded Robert. He glanced at Wesley who stood not far beside him. Wesley was looking at him, eyebrow raised as if quietly asking: _really?_

"Damn it. Please don't get worse..." muttered Wesley as he watched the zombie horde grow in number. He bit his lip in frustration. His guts tightened inside him. He felt like he was going to throw up at any moment but tried his best to hold it in. Panic was beginning to consume him. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck, what to do? What to do?" he muttered on.

Above and around them, it seemed as if more zombies were coming out of the apartment units. Robert unwittingly started producing all sorts of groans and whimpers in frustration.

CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK!

Wesley looked behind and recognized immediately what the sound was. Zombies were pounding at the gate. At the moment, judging by the sounds, there were only two or three zombies at the gate but if the commotion upstairs was any sign, there were soon to be much more.

"Dude, you're able to build shit faster than I could. Block the gate, now!" ordered Wesley. Robert looked at him momentarily, a rather blank expression on his face, and ran off to the gate. Wesley ran to the stairwell.

Inside Unit F, Mayca had just slammed the door behind her and was anxiously trying to push the couch against the door.

"What are you doing? The guys are still out there!" exclaimed En.

"N-nii..." Mayca struggled to find words. She was on the verge of tears and had to stop pushing more than twice to slump down on the floor. "...Robert said we need to barricade ourselves in. T-there's so many zombies outside... Charlie..." Mayca slumped once more to the floor. En looked out the living room window and immediately saw the zombies shambling around the upper floors. From where she stood, the loud thumping of heavy undead hands reverberated against the steel gate with such force that it shook her knees. Noises echoed across the walls as groups of zombies tried to bash their way into the occupied apartment units.

"Ting, Shayne, get down here right now!" yelled En from the stairwell. Without waiting for a reply, she effortlessly pushed the heavy oven in the dining area against the back door. With a quick glance, she acknowledged how the windows were already protected by steel bars and so decided to simply shut them all. At this point, Ting and Shayne were already hurrying down the stairs. The stairwell was bordered by 6-foot tall window that let in a copious amount of natural light. On rainy days when the raindrops form waterfalls on each of the eight window panes, sitting there seemed like such a relaxing idea. The sight of a zombie stumbling over and falling from the 3rd floor balcony induced a bone chilling scream from Shayne.

"Get the refrigerator upstairs! Mayca, get those plastic chairs then help me get some of the water jugs into my room. Will somebody please look for something we can use as a weapon?" exclaimed En. Shayne was lost in an obvious state of panic while Ting coldly perused through the cupboards for a likely weapon. Mayca took two deep breaths before mustering the strength to stand up and help En.

"Don't just stand there! Get the refrigerator!" shrieked Ting who had, in such short time, acquired a ladle, a kitchen knife, a chopping board and a steel frame from inside the oven. She was already on her way upstairs, met by En and Mayca who were already on their way back for another batch of water jugs. She looked back at Shayne. "Hurry up!"

Shayne, with a burst of adrenaline, swooped down and picked up the small refrigerator with such ease that it seemed as if she were merely carrying an ice box. Fear shot pangs of pain and bursts of energy coursing through her body as she climbed up the stairs with the refrigerator's power cord bouncing off the stairs in a trail behind her.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind Shayne, no one dared speak a word.

THUMP...

THUMP...

THUMP...

The menacing sound bounced around the walls and no one knew where exactly it was coming from. All four of them were huddled in the corner of the room right beside the window.

"What's going to happen now?" whispered Shayne, the fear of a helpless child rising from her voice. Mayca clung onto En's arm, tears gushing down her face. Shayne tugged on the other, her eyes closed as she cried as well. Ting sobbed silently on En's shoulder.

"Damn it... Guys, please be okay..." muttered En.

On the upper floors, Ric and Charlie stood just beyond closed doors. They had jammed the sofa, the fridge and the dining table against the doors and windows. The muffled echo of moaning zombies and the occasional thud of zombies pounding at the door prevented them from having even a moment's peace.

Charlie walked around the apartment unit, pacing back and forth as if part searching the room for anything useful and partly wracking his brain for anything that will help.

"Shit!" exclaimed Ric, who was sitting haplessly on the floor.

Charlie let out a sigh of exasperation. "This is frustrating!" His heart pounded mightily on his chest, attempting to break out through his ribs and escape unsightly death. He looked around, assessing the situation that faced him. He ran the scenarios through his mind. They could break a small part of the window and take out the zombies one by one with his mop spear. No, what if the spear breaks or if they just start pouring in through the window?

Charlie ran to the washroom. Inside was a small window with a sheer four storey drop into parked cars right below. Not only did it seem too small, what were they to do once outside? At best they could try to climb to the roof which in itself seemed like suicide. But once on the roof, what's the best they could do? Roast to death under the sun, parched and hungry while slews of zombies awaited them below? It was better than getting eaten alive but still not good enough.

CRASH!

"AHH! FUCK!" yelled Ric who jumped to his feet. One of the jalousies fell off the window and shattered loudly on the floor. Pallid, dead arms flailed hungrily through the opening. Ric hammered them with the frying pan, breaking undead fingers and crushing bone although neither helped alleviate the problem.

"Help me with this cabinet!" shouted Charlie from behind him. He stood right outside one of the empty rooms. One of which had a tall wooden cabinet dresser inside, taking so much space but giving the room's inhabitants a sense of luxury. Together, Ric and Charlie pushed it as quickly as they could against the broken window. Unlike the windows on the more expensive ground floor apartments, these ones had no steel frames or screens protecting them.

"Almost there..." said Charlie as they pushed the cabinet against the window and the undead arms from outside pushed back. "...there! Get the mattresses and other heavy stuff from inside those rooms. I'll try to hold this here. I can feel them trying to push it out of the way!"

Ric ran off and dragged out the mattresses from the empty rooms. They jammed the dresser full of bed sheets and mattresses until it was heavy enough to stay in place despite the zombies pushing from outside.

Out of breath, both Ric and Charlie slumped onto the floor by the wall opposite the entrance. Cold sweat not only dripped on their foreheads but drenched their clothes so fully that they shivered in a potent mixture of adrenaline and fear.

"We're trapped here, aren't we?" asked Ric. His voice shook uncontrollably as he struggled to hold in tears.

"Shit..." he mumbled. He lifted a fist to his mouth. "Shit. Fuck, this is unfair! I... I haven't done anything with my life yet."

Charlie looked at him and breathed deeply before turning his gaze back at their makeshift barricade which at that moment shook violently as zombies pushed from the other side.

"I haven't proven anything yet... not to anyone... not to myself... my mom... Oh God my mom! I-I... I wasn't there to protect my mom!" At this point, Ric couldn't hold his grief much longer. He burst into sobs and whimpers beside Charlie. He buried his face in his hands.

Charlie looked at him and patted Ric on the back. Charlie fished his silver watch from his pants pocket and gazed at it for a moment, looked around him, then returned his gaze at it. He paused and took a long moment of thought. He breathed deeply and slowly until his controlled breathing turned into short gasps of air. It was like a long drawn laugh that turned awry somewhere inside him and turned into weeping. He put aside his glasses and threw the mop spear against the wall. It bounded off and fell to the floor with a sound drowned out by the zombies.

"That was a stupid idea. I should have figured they'll just stumble down onto me if I try to climb up the stairs.", said Wesley with a forced chuckle. "How're the gates?"

"Two zombies now unquestionably lifeless. But if they're attracted to loud sounds like they're showing right now, who knows when we'll get swarmed by all those zombies outside.", said Robert grimly.

"Yeah, thought so too. One problem at a time though, any idea how we'll get the guys out and clear out the zombies?" asked Wesley.

"Well there's that van over there.", said Robert who pointed in the direction of the blue van parked near the gate. "The horns should still work. We could get them to shift their attention to us so that Charlie and Ric can get out."

"What? And call in more zombies from outside this time?" asked Wesley "How about we get on top of that van, yell at the zombies and make a dramatic last stand?"

"I hope it won't be our last stand..." said Robert.

"Nah, don't worry. Just bad choice of words I guess. There's hardly more than a dozen of them up there. We can do this.", replied Wesley.

"Right, if you say so.", said Robert.

"Yeah... so, do the honors.", said Wesley as he motioned to the upper floors with a nudge of his head. Robert let his shoulders fall and sighed. He took one deep breath and prepared to shout.

"HEEEEEY RIIIIIC!" bellowed Robert at the top of his lungs. "WE'RE GONNA MAKE SOME NOISE TO GET THOSE ZOMBIES GO DOWN HERE! YOU OKAY IN THERE? I MISS YOU!"

A muffled "DUDE, FUCK YOU!" emanated from the beyond the wall of zombies.

"OKAY, I LOVE YOU TOOOOOO!" shouted Robert. He laughed heartily with Wesley before they climbed up the van. The two of them shouted random words and profanities while they thumped and stomped at the roof of the van. Slowly but surely the zombies began to turn their attention to much easier prey.

"Dude!" laughed Wesley. "If we're lucky those clumsy idiots will fall down the stairs and break their legs before they get to us!" They laughed morbidly at the idea as they continued their hollering.

"Yay! Did you hear that? They're still okay!" exclaimed En who was already looking out her bedroom window.

"Where's Charlie?" said Mayca who stood right beside En.

"Upstairs with Eric, don't worry Mayca. Charlie will be fine. They'll all be fine... they have to be.", replied En. She looked around her room swiftly before realizing that she was searching for a weapon. She wanted so badly to go out and help but paused and with trepidation, reconsidered.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" bellowed Robert and Wesley in unison as they kicked and swung at the zombies that surrounded the van. The van was high enough for the zombies not to reach them very well with their arms but also low enough for the two of them to reach their heads with the axes. When some of the taller zombies started attacking, all that they had to do was step back a little for the zombies not to be able to reach them. Choosing the van as a platform was a gamble that had clearly paid off.

As soon as most, if not all, of the zombies were set upon attacking Robert and Wesley, Charlie and Ric charged out of the upper floor apartment. They fought their way down the stairs with ease; the zombies that they had to fight were those that fell down the stairs and effectively incapacitated themselves. Charlie picked them off easily at a distance with his mop spear.

CLANG!

Ric swung the pan at the back of a zombie's head. The awkward feeling of breaking its skull reverberated through the pan's handles and onto Ric's hands. He winced from an emotion of equal parts disgust and satisfaction. Charlie grit his teeth as he stabbed his spear with calculated fury at the zombies, occasionally kicking them back to induce distance before thrusting the spear again.

"One hour.", spoke Charlie as he held his watch with bloodied hands. "Only one hour passed. Damn."

"Time flies when you're having fun, huh?" grinned Robert.

They observed what remained of the bloodbath. It was gruesome, but it enlightened them to think of it as proof that they survived.

"Anyone else feel like they need a shower? I feel sticky.", said Wesley while tugging at his blood-soaked shirt.

"EN! MAYCA! It's okay now, you can open the door!" yelled Ric.

Upstairs in her room, En breathed a sigh of relief before slumping on the floor. She clutched at her still pounding heart with a slight smile. Mayca, just as relieved, followed suit.

"Ow!", exclaimed Mayca. "What was that?"

She searched the floor for what had hurt her when she tried to sit down. Finding nothing, she searched her pockets and found her cell phone with its screen brightly lit. _3 messages received._ She immediately pressed Open and found three text messages from her mom. She opened the first one.

"_Anak, nasan ka na? Nakakatakot yung balita sa TV! Kanina ka pa namin tinatawagan pero di makaconnect. Magtext ka agad nagaalala na kami dito. Magiingat ka ha? M—"_

_ BATTERY EMPTY _glared on the screen.

The phone's lights went out.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"It's so quiet outside...", whispered a twelve year old boy who pressed his ears against the wooden door of their apartment.

"Th-they're dead, aren't they? Those people we saw in the unit next door... those things must have gotten them.." mumbled a man in a security officer's uniform. He sat on the sofa, bent over in gloom with his fingers digging into his scalp. His gun rested idly on the coffee table. "They're dead. They're... they're all dead."

"Shhh... Don't talk like that Allan. You'll scare my son.", spoke a man seated right next to the security guard. Clad in a white shirt riddled with small mice-eaten holes and loose basketball shorts, this single dad and his two sons were enjoying an early family dinner when the outbreak hit. Daniel Jimenez, known to his friends as Danny, with his two sons Mico and Mikee lived a simple life in their little apartment home. His wife had passed away four years ago and he had since then did all he could to raise his boys on his own. Because of this, his eldest son Mico was obliged to fill the role of parent for his brother Mikee while their father was out to work. It was a difficult life for all of them but nevertheless, they were happy.

Allan stood up and paced around the room. In the deafening silence, he heard the wind shriek and felt his fear clawing at his nerves. Blood violently pulsed through the veins in his temple, threatening to burst out. Clearly bothered by Allan's erratic behavior, Mico hurriedly ran towards his father.

"It's alright son, it's alright.", said Danny to Mico. Mico huddled underneath his arm as he watched Allan walk around like a madman. "Allan, for God's sake, sit down! SIT DOWN!"

The nervous security guard stopped. He looked blankly at Danny and for a moment, it seemed as if he had calmed down. His eyes bore an unnerving distant quality within them. Allan's gaze was sternly fixed onto Danny yet Danny felt as if Allan was seeing something else entirely. He shifted in his seat in an attempt to better cover an already frightened Mico.

"Allan, calm down. I understand how you feel." , said Danny. "We're scared, too. We're all scared... but we shouldn't panic. Panicking will do us no good. We need to stay together and stay strong. We need to help each other and figure our way through this."

"M-my family...", whispered the security guard.

"What did you say Allan?"

"...my family is still out there.", replied Allan. He kept his gaze trained onto Danny's eyes as he walked closer to him. Allan picked up his gun from the table and inspected it in his hands. It was an old Glock with 9x19mm Parabellum ammo, issued by the security agency that sponsored him. Quickly, he turned and walked towards the door. He yanked out the chair jammed against the doorknob and opened the door.

"STOP! Allan, please, don't do this! Everyone in here relies on you!" exclaimed Danny who was already on his feet. Mico curled on the sofa behind him, his fearful eyes welling up with tears.

"SHUT UP! Just... Just shut up!" yelled Allan. Tears gushed from his eyes and he used his free hand to wipe it off.

"Allan, come here and sit down. Let's talk things over."

"Shut up! I said... shut up! I have to leave... I have to go."

"No, you don't, Allan. You need to stay here with us. We're much safer here than... OH GOD ALLAN NO!"

The muzzle of the Glock 17 glared at Mico. Its parts rattled softly in Allan's grip.

"I have... I have a daughter the same age as Mico. She needs me out there. She needs me, Danny."

"Allan..." said Danny softly. When that day started, the last thing Danny expected to do was put his own life in any danger. Yet, in the face of such danger befalling either of his sons, Danny would have gone against anything even worse than bullets "I understand, Allan. Just, put the gun down. We don't want anyone getting hurt."

"I... I have to save my family. They're all I have..." replied Allan in a bout of dismal tears and sobs.

"I understand that Allan. I feel the same way you do right now."

Danny had positioned himself directly in the Glock's line of fire, blocking any possibility of his son getting shot. Though still with gun aimed at him, Danny felt some amount of relief.

"...put the gun down Allan, please."

Allan hesitated for a moment, the gun now rattling even more violently in his hands. Without saying a word, he lowers the gun and turns swiftly back towards the door. He hurried his steps, urging necessity to overcome his guilt and fear.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Allan froze a few steps from the staircase. His heart pounded heavily against his chest powered by a haunting guilt that tortured him from within. He feared for his family greatly. Are they okay? Were they waiting for him, a loving husband and father, to protect them from these monsters just as he had promised to do? He was a security guard after all. He remembered how his daughter's eyes glowed in reverence every time she sees him in his guard's uniform. She looked up to him as if he was a soldier, or perhaps even a gallant knight in armor.

What if they were hurt or even worse, dead? Allan acknowledged this possibility grimly but struggled with his faith to believe otherwise. What was he to do if he finds them in a state very similar to these monsters?

A new fear gripped him... a new, crippling fear that rendered him unable to take a step further. Allan hurried back into the apartment. Tears fell with the words _I__'__m__sorry_ lingering quietly on his lips.

"Allan..." murmured Danny. His eyes showed befuddlement and gratitude that he had quickly returned.

A woman peeked from inside one of the rooms.

"Hurry up, both of you! Help us here!" bellowed Tess.

The room was cramped with people. Mikee clung tightly onto Tess's skirt. He had been sleeping in the adjacent room but woke to fear from the cries and screams around him.

"Mikee, stay on the sofa with Mico." said Danny calmly to his son. "Go on."

Mikee tried to give the scene one final glance. Camille, a student nurse and resident of the apartment complex, was inside trying to restrain the thrashing pregnant woman on the bottom bunk of the double deck bed.

"Jen, stop it! You'll hurt your baby." pleaded Camille.

Pain took hold of all of Jen's senses. She dug her fingers deep into the sheets and were it not for the wadded cloth that Camille put in her mouth, she would have either bit her own tongue or gritted her teeth until they chipped.

"Danny, Allan, hold her down! Please, do it now!" yelled Camille.

Both men reacted instantly. Danny pressed down on her shoulders while Allan held her knees.

"We need morphine! She needs some sedative... a painkiller... there has to be something..." Camille was speaking in between sobs. "Oh God, she's in so much pain! Jen..."

Jen convulsed on the bed. Her muffled screams were so intense that it made her gag seem useless. Both men struggled to pin her down. Pain had addled her senses and with much force Jen managed to free her right leg of Allan's grasp. She kicked up at him, though it was much more like an involuntary spasm. Her foot caught Allan square on the jaw. Allan staggered and fell to the floor. Danny moved quickly to prevent her from hurting herself or anyone else any further.

"Hggk... Hggk..." Jen's eyes went still; wide open due to pain but eerily still, staring blankly at Danny's face. She made gurgling noises and choked on the air. Her convulsions stopped. Jen's chest jerked twice before she let out a long, final breath. Danny checked the pulse on her wrist and shook his head. Everyone fell silent.

"DANNY GET AWAY FROM HER!" yelled Camille.

In that same instant, Jen's corpse sat up and got hold of Danny's right arm. With menacing force, she yanked Danny closer for her to move in for the bite. The thick wad of cloth that gagged her was still in her mouth, much to Danny's luck, but her fingers held onto him so tight that her nails were digging into his skin. Danny yelled out in pain.

Allan was scrambled onto his feet, searching frantically for his gun. Unable to find it on himself, he immediately rushed to help Danny. With a surge of adrenaline, he shoved her head back against the wall with both his hands and began flinging punches at the zombie's face. With each hit came the disgusting sounds of breaking bones. Whether it was the bones on Allan's hands or those on the zombie's skull was unclear but Allan continued punching relentlessly until the zombie loosened its grip on Danny's arm.

"Are you okay, Danny?" said Allan. Both of them were still gasping for air.

"Allan... Thank you..." replied Danny. Tears were flowing down the side of Allan's face but he smiled reassuringly towards Danny.

"Wh-what happened?" spoke Danny as he tried to regain his calm. "She suddenly became one of those things outside... how?"

Danny looked at the people around him, searching for anyone who had the answer. Everyone was looking at the same place: the gash on Jen's leg.

"You think the wounds...?"

Danny's heartbeat suddenly spiked and he reeled back from the shock. He nervously lifted his right arm and felt his whole body shaking.

"It's just... It's just a scratch... She didn't really get to bite me. She had a gag, you see. I mean... Look.", pleaded Danny but not to anyone in particular. He was panicked, fearful for his own sake. "It's just a scratch. I'll be fine, right? Right?" He looked around him, desperately hoping for reassurance.

Mikee, Danny's younger son, was standing outside the door with the unmistakable look of terror in his eyes as he gazed at his father.

Danny broke into tears.

Something moved around the partially exposed belly of Jen's corpse. A series of bulges rose and ebbed from under her skin. Upon closer inspection it bore a familiar figure: a baby's hands.


End file.
